TRANSPARENCY (OPEN BUDGET INDEX) Spain

Spain
OPEN BUDGET SURVEY 2015
TRANSPARENCY
(OPEN BUDGET INDEX)
58
PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
The Government of Spain
provides the public with
limited budget information.
BUDGET
OVERSIGHT
17
43
67
The Government of
Spain is weak in
providing the public with
opportunities to engage
in the budget process.
BY LEGISLATURE
Budget oversight by
the legislature in
Spain is limited.
BY AUDIT
Budget oversight by the
supreme audit institution in
Spain is adequate.
OUT OF 100
OUT OF 100
OUT OF 100
OUT OF 100
TRANSPARENCY (OPEN BUDGET INDEX)
Country Comparisons
Drawing on internationally accepted criteria developed by multilateral
organizations, the Open Budget Survey uses 109 indicators to measure budget transparency. These indicators are used to assess whether the central
government makes eight key budget documents available to the public in
a timely manner and whether the data contained in these documents are
comprehensive and useful.
45
Global Average
87
Sweden
84
Norway
81
United States
76
France
Each country is given a score out of 100 which determines its ranking on
75
United Kingdom
73
Italy
the Open Budget Index – the world’s only independent and comparative
Germany
measure of budget transparency.
Portugal
71
64
58
Spain
Usefulness of Budget Information
Throughout the Budget Cycle
0
20
40
60
80
Spain’s score of 58 out of 100 is substantially higher than the global average
score of 45.
Change in Transparency Over Time
Pre-Budget
Statement
Extensive
Executive’s
Budget Proposal
Substantial
Audit Report
Enacted Budget
Published Late
Extensive
63
63
58
Year-End Report
Limited
Citizens Budget
Not Produced
Mid-Year Review
Not Produced
In-Year Reports
Extensive
Note: The following categories are used to report the usefulness of each document:
Not produced, Published Late, Internal Use, Scant, Minimal, Limited, Substantial, or Extensive.
100
TRANSPARENCY (OPEN BUDGET INDEX)
The Availability of
Budget Documents Over Time
However, the Government of Spain has been inconsistent in which documents are made publicly available in a given year.
Document
2010
2012
2015
Since 2012, the Government of Spain has increased the availability of budget
Pre-Budget Statement
information by:
Executive’s Budget Proposal
■■
Publishing the Pre-Budget Statement.
Enacted Budget
However, the Court of Auditors of Spain has decreased the availability of
Citizens Budget
budget information by:
In-Year Reports
■■
Failing to publish the Audit Report in a timely manner.
Mid-Year Review
Moreover, the Government of Spain has failed to make progress in the fol-
Year-End Report
lowing ways:
Audit Report
■■
Not producing a Citizens Budget or a Mid-Year Review.
• Not produced/published late • Produced for internal use • Published
Spain’s score of 58 on the 2015 Open Budget Index is largely the same as its
score in 2012.
Public Participation
Elements of Public Participation
Evidence suggests that transparency alone is insufficient for improving
governance, and that public participation in budgeting can maximize the
positive outcomes associated with greater budget transparency.
Executive
Legislative
Supreme Audit Institution
No
Limited
No
To measure public participation, the Open Budget Survey assesses the
degree to which the government provides opportunities for the public
to engage in budget processes. Such opportunities should be provided
throughout the budget cycle by the executive, the legislature, and the
supreme audit institution.
Country Comparisons
Spain’s score of 17 out of 100 indicates that the provision of opportunities for
the public to engage in the budget process is weak. This is lower than the
global average score of 25.
Global Average
25
Norway
75
United States
69
United Kingdom
58
Sweden
48
France
40
Italy
35
Portugal
25
Germany
23
Spain
17
0
20
40
60
80
100
Budget Oversight
Oversight by the Supreme Audit Institution
The Open Budget Survey examines the extent to which legislatures and
supreme audit institutions are able to provide effective oversight of the
budget. These institutions play a critical role – often enshrined in national
constitutions – in planning budgets and overseeing their implementation.
Oversight by the Legislature
Planning
Implementation
Adequate
The supreme audit institution provides adequate budget oversight. Under
the law, it has full discretion to undertake audits as it sees fit. Moreover,
the head of the supreme audit institution cannot be removed without
legislative or judicial approval, which bolsters its independence. Finally, the
Adequate
supreme audit institution is provided with insufficient resources to fulfill its
Weak
mandate and has a weak quality assurance system in place.
The legislature provides adequate oversight during the planning stage of
the budget cycle and weak oversight during the implementation stage
of the budget cycle. The legislature does not have a specialized budget
research office, and in both law and practice, the legislature is not consulted
prior to the virement of funds in the Enacted Budget and spending contingency funds that were not identified in the Enacted Budget.
Recommendations
Improving Transparency
Improving Oversight
Spain should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transpar-
Spain should prioritize the following actions to strengthen budget over-
ency:
sight:
■■
■■
Produce and publish an Audit Report, a Citizens Budget, and a Mid-Year
■■
Establish a specialized budget research office for the legislature.
Review.
■■
In both law and practice, ensure the legislature is consulted prior to the
Increase the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal by
virement of funds in the Enacted Budget and the spending of contingency
presenting more information on the classification of expenditures for future
years and on the classification of revenues for future years.
■■
its duties, as determined by an independent body (e.g., the legislature
more information on planned versus actual expenditures and on planned
or judiciary).
Improving Participation
Spain should prioritize the following actions to improve budget participation:
Establish credible and effective mechanisms (i.e., public hearings, surveys,
focus groups) for capturing a range of public perspectives on budget matters.
■■
Hold legislative hearings on the budgets of specific ministries, departments,
and agencies at which testimony from the public is heard.
■■
Ensure the supreme audit institution has adequate funding to perform
Increase the comprehensiveness of the Year-End Report by presenting
versus actual debt and interest.
■■
funds that were not identified in the Enacted Budget.
■■
Establish formal mechanisms for the public to assist the supreme audit
institution to formulate its audit program and collaborate with civil society
to evaluate the performance and results of the public policies and the
institutions.
Methodology
The Open Budget Survey uses internationally accepted criteria developed
The Government of Spain provided comments on the draft Open Budget
by multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
Questionnaire results.
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and
the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). It is a
Research to complete this country’s Open Budget Survey was undertaken
fact-based research instrument that assesses what occurs in practice through
by:
readily observable phenomena. The entire research process took approximately
Andrés Caballero Quintana
18 months between March 2014 and September 2015 and involved about 300
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
experts in 102 countries. The Survey was revised somewhat from the 2012
Calle Juan de Quesada, 30
version to reflect emerging developments in accepted good practice and to
35001 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas
strengthen individual questions. A full discussion of these changes can be
Spain
found in a technical note on the comparability of the Open Budget Index over
andrescaballero2006@gmail.com
time (see below).
Survey responses are typically supported by citations and comments. This may
Further Information
include a reference to a public document, an official statement by the govern-
Visit www.openbudgetsurvey.org for more information, including:
ment, or comments from a face-to-face interview with a government official or
■■
The Open Budget Survey 2015: Global Report
other knowledgeable party.
■■
Individual datasets for each of the 102 countries surveyed.
■■
A technical note on the comparability of the Open Budget Index over time.
The Survey is compiled from a questionnaire completed for each country by
independent budget experts who are not associated with the national government. Each country’s questionnaire is then independently reviewed by an
anonymous expert who also has no association to government. In addition, IBP
invites national governments to comment on the draft results from the Survey
and considers these comments before finalizing the Survey results.
www.internationalbudget.org info@internationalbudget.org